


The Public Thinks Steve Is Straight.

by starbucks22



Category: Captain America - All Media Types, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Bisexual Bucky Barnes, Bisexual Steve Rogers, M/M, Natasha Romanov Is a Good Bro, Sam Wilson Is a Good Bro, Steve Rogers & Tony Stark Friendship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-12
Updated: 2019-03-25
Packaged: 2019-07-11 17:59:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 32
Words: 18,378
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15977537
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starbucks22/pseuds/starbucks22
Summary: Everyone thinks that Steve Rogers is straight. Nobody even stops to think that he could be gay or bisexual.Or: Steve breaks the internet while Sam and Natasha are incredibly supportive. Shuri isn't even the least bit surprised.





	1. Chapter 1

"It's Captain America!" 

Steve Rogers, walking downtown to get to a meeting, phone in hand, doesn't even notice the interviewer at first.

"No, I'm on the way, Tony. Don't ask me, why would I know? ...Okay, valid point-"

"Captain Rogers, sir?" 

"I'll call you back."

He put the phone away and glanced up at the interviewer.

"Yes?" 

"Hi! I'm Marina Vega with the Ander Star News, and I'd like to ask you a few questions that people are dying to know. Do you have a few minutes?"

"Um, not really. Maybe I could answer a couple?" 

Marina's face brightened as she nodded. "Of course! First one, how are you with recent technology?" 

"Not nearly as bad as people expect me to be, that's for sure. But that's not to say I'm very good at it, though."

She nodded. "And, second question! Are you in a relationship?" 

Steve broke the serious look he had, and smiled brightly. "Yes."

She smiled as she wrote something down. 

"Well, thank you! I hope we can have a longer interview when you aren't so busy."

"Maybe."

 

Steve got home a few hours later. He sat on his couch while watching TV, when Sam and Natasha walked in, Bucky a bit behind them.

"Warning," Sam said immediately. "He's pissed."

"Why?" 

"Stupid ass interviewers."

"I thought you guys only went out for lunch."

"Nope. Well, yeah. Then we went to the mall and the Smithsonian. Got a bit swarmed  by interviewers and cameras on the way out."

"...Oh boy."

Oh boy was right. Bucky came in a few seconds later, slamming the door behind him and placed a bag on the counter before plopping down on the couch next to Steve, grabbing his hand.

That was a normal sort of thing. After things finally calmed down enough where he could try to settle down, he got hit with memories, flashbacks, almost all or all files on him being released, and nightmares, he clung to Steve.

"So, how bad was it?" Steve asked. 

Bucky didn't answer, just nodded at Natasha to start talking.

"Right, so, within minutes, people could figure out that he's Bucky Barnes. All the cameras on him out of nowhere was bad enough, but they just wouldn't. Shut. Up."

"She's saying it nicely," Sam said. "They kept bringing up Hydra repeatedly. Wouldn't shut the fuck up about those files, which they apparently read. He wouldn't say anything to any of them."

"He hasn't talked to either one of us since then. Or anyone, for that matter. So we went to the mall for a couple hours but still, nothing."

"Give him time on this," Steve replied, squeezing Bucky's hand tighter. Bucky gave him a small smile in response.

He saw Natasha and Sam give each other a look, but neither one said anything.

 

After one reporter got confirmation that Steve really was in New York, the people continued to try to talk to him for the next two days. Bucky too, since the two were almost always together.

Sure enough, like Steve said, things were much better after Sam and Natasha gave Bucky some time. 

That is, until the duo went to the airport to pick up Tony and Peter. 

"Hey, Steve!" Tony exclaimed in surprise upon seeing him and Bucky there. Peter smiled and waved over at them. 

Considering the fact that all but Peter was famous, they quickly attracted a crowd.

Which in of itself wasn't bad because this crowd was calm, the only bad part was that Bucky clearly recognized someone. He had started talking with Peter a bit before his smiled dropped and he grabbed Steve's sleeve. 

When that didn't work, he nudged him, hard.

"Ow! What was that for?" 

He opened his mouth to respond, looking up toward them slightly before cursing and tensing up. Steve looked up and followed his gaze. He stared at the man for a few seconds, confused, before looking back to Bucky.

"Do you know him?" 

He nodded.

Then he took a better look at how his boyfriend reacted. 

"Wait. Hydra?" 

Bucky nodded again. Peter looked up, only having heard the last part but seeing that something went wrong, he thought for a second before he starting pushing the group toward a nearby car.

"Quicker, quicker. Did he see you?" 

"Yes."

Steve cursed loudly. "Well, fuck. Faster, faster."

One of the people in the crowd walked over and tried to speak. 

"Mr. Rogers, is everything okay?" 

Before he could answer, the once quiet crowd started asking questions.

"Leave my boyfriend and I alone and let us get the fuck out of here!" 

The crowd only got worse.


	2. Cupcake Squad.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve's friends are very supportive as he realizes he just outed himself and Bucky in front of multiple cameras. Hours later, the internet is losing it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bold is text messages from others, italics is Steve.

**Steve, what the heck. (Sent 5:40 pm.)**

**I got on my phone and the very first thing I see is you going "Leave me and my boyfriend alone and let us get the fuck out of here. (Sent 5:41 pm.)**

**Badass, dropping that goody "I don't curse at all I'm Captain America" thing, by the way. But you're gay? (Sent 5:45 pm.)**

 

Steve looked down at his phone and smiled slightly as he looked at all the texts Natasha was sending. 

Sam's were very direct, more so than Natasha's.

 

**Dude, you're gay and you told the world before me? (Sent 5:45 pm.)**

**Wait a minute, that's not like you. You didn't say any of that on purpose, did you? (Sent 5:45 pm.)**

 

_I'm bisexual. But no, I didn't mean to say of that. It just slipped out._

**You okay? And what was that all about?**

_Bucky recognized someone from Hydra, and we needed to get out fast. Nobody would move out of way._

**I'm coming over and I'm bringing cookies. Or cupcakes. Did he go silent again?**

_Yes._

**I'm bringing two boxes.**

 

Steve got several calls before the hour was over.

"So, I heard that you're dating Bucky," Shuri said over a Skype call.

"Yeah. Guess lots of people know about that."

"That's an understatement."

"Yeah, I know. My phone won't stay quiet. I think Bucky is getting ready to throw it out of a window."

"Don't go thinking he won't do it. So, congratulations are in order over it then!" 

"Over him throwing my phone?" 

"No! You guys are dating!" 

"Yeah, I know." 

"This is great! I'll win multiple bets," she said jokingly.

"So you don't mind?"

"I think it's beautiful," she said, much less jokingly.

 

Sam and Natasha did bring cupcakes. Rainbow frosting cupcakes. 

But as the six of them grabbed some, (Bucky, Steve, Sam, Natasha, Peter, and Tony,) Steve smiled. 

He can let the people scream on their own, he has friends to eat cupcakes with.


	3. Press Conference.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The next day, it's time for the press conference that needs to happen now that the public that Bucky Barnes is still alive. And apparently dating Steve Rogers.

"Do I have to do this?" 

"Yes, you do."

Bucky sighed. "Do I really?" 

Steve nodded. "I... kinda messed up a bit the other day. We can't just leave this alone."

"Yes we can! There's no reason why anyone has to know any more than they already do. Plus, you told me _last night_ that we should just let people scream on their own." 

"Yes, I know I did, but it'll look really bad if we don't explain."

"How so?" 

"The Avengers hoarding an apparently not dead Bucky Barnes away from the world won't look good for any of us," Natasha said from the doorway. "Now, we should really get going."

Sam, who was standing behind her, nodded. "Exactly."

Bucky relunctantly nodded. "If things get bad, I'm out."

"If things really do get bad enough, I'm not going to even try to stop you."

"Agreed," Natasha said, smiling at him slightly. "You got us with you, and the other Avengers are absolutely going to love you. And Steve, did you ever answer any of their messages from yesterday?" 

He nodded. "Yes."

She squinted suspiciously. "Other than Pepper, who probably arranged this whole thing?" 

"I answered you and Sam!"

"Unbelievable, Steve. How many messages did you ignore?" 

"Uh.."

"Hand me the phone."

He did so, knowing she would find a less polite way to get it if he didn't. 

After he typed in the password, she went straight to his messages.

The first two were from Clint: 

**What the FRICK, Rogers? The FRICK?? I have SO MANY questions for you.**

**First off: your long dead friend is very not dead??**

After that, there was one from Sharon, Bruce, and Wanda each.

**what?? WHAT?? I'm coming over soon and I'm bringing some cookies.**

From Bruce: 

**Why are you trending?**

And from Wanda: 

**Did I miss something?**

And that was only the beginning. 

"Let's go and hopefully not mess up more," Sam said, taking Steve's phone and handing it back to him. 

They all got back stage while Pepper stood on stage with a microphone, explaining the situation even though everyone there already knew. 

"We're doing this one person at a time," Tony said, walking over to the four. "Steve's gonna go, Sam's gonna go, Natasha, then Barnes."

"You're gonna make Bucky go alone?" Sam, of all people, asked.

"That's kind of fantastically horrible," Natasha chimed in. Steve didn't. Steve didn't need to. 

"Alright, alright," Tony said. "If one of you notice he needs help, you go back up there. Simple."

"Or, we go up there one by one, but nobody leaves the stage and we stay up there together."

"Everyone's a critic. Yeah, whatever, Nat. Not my fault if it all goes south."

They went by her plan. Steve went up and sat down first, grabbing a microphone. Predictably, people started cheering. He took the middle seat. There were six in total.

Pepper took a seat toward the far right. The cheering continued, albeit a bit quieter, when Natasha came in and sat down in the seat to Steve's left. 

The cheering picked up, just as loud as before when Tony came in and sat down beside Pepper. 

That just left Bucky and Sam.

People started clapping when Sam came in and sat down next to Tony. 

A few minutes later, the crowd started looking confused when they noticed that, although all five people had mics, none of them were talking into them. Sam was looking over to Natasha, mouthing something.

She looked over at him, then nudged Steve, repeating whatever it was that Sam wanted to say. 

One of the people caught the words "Where," and "Worried." So she raised her hand, even further confusing people around her.

"Are we waiting for someone else?" 

Everyone noticed the way Steve glanced at the empty seat next to his, and the way Natasha and Sam started whispering. The only one that looked vaguely in control of what was happening was Pepper.

"Yes, we're waiting for someone," she confirmed. 

"What's the hold up?" someone asked.

"We don't know. Steve, you wanna go check?" 

"Well, I'd rather not, but sure."

"Wait," Natasha said, looking like she realized something as she turned her mic off. "Maybe something happened yesterday."

"Could just be nerves," Sam said as he turned off his own mic. 

"Don't think so. It's been ten minutes, he would be out here by now."

"Maybe he got hurt?" 

"By what, exactly? He's stronger than probably everyone in this city. He can fight his way out of everything. I don't think there's much he can't get out of on his own." 

"Yeah, but wasn't he in the same room as a Hydra agent who recognized him yesterday?"

Natasha stood up a bit straighter and got a bit quieter. "You think that could be it?" 

"Wasn't Steve trying to rush him away real fast? Could be that the Hydra guy got a bit too close and messed with him."

"Shit, you could be right."

Another five minutes went by, and people started whispering. 

"Everything is under control, there's just a slight issue," Tony said. That did nothing.

"Where did Captain Rogers go?"

"It's been 15 minutes!" 

"Why's the seat still empty?" 

Before he could give them an answer, Steve came back on stage, then leaned over to whisper to Nat.

"Everything okay?" she asked.

"Something's wrong with Bucky's arm. He didn't want to come out here and have it spaz out or something. It's probably nothing that Tony can't fix-" 

He couldn't even finish the sentence before Wanda, who had shown up maybe five minutes earlier, stood impatiently waiting for Steve to look over at her.

"Steve," she whispered. "Steve!" Eventually she gave up and went over and stood in front of him.

"We have a problem."

"Can it wait? We were supposed to start fifteen minutes ago."

"No. Something's wrong with your friend."

"Yeah, I know. He looked a bit uncomfortable with it, but he just didn't want to come out with it and it ending up messing up and hitting something. I'll just ask Tony to fix it after this." 

"Wanda!" a new voice exclaimed as Peter stood at the opposite end of the stage, waving her over. "Wanda, come on!" 

"Give me a minute!" 

"No-" 

"Look," Wanda said to Steve. "We don't know what's wrong with it, but it's bad."

"How bad?" 

Peter gave up on Wanda and ran over to Tony, yanking on his arm.

"Tony, you have to help, it's bad. We tried to ask him what the pain is on the 1-10 scale, right? He wouldn't even answer me!"

People were talking much louder now.

"You take charge," Steve said to Natasha. "I gotta go." 


	4. Press Conference (part 2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team finds out what's wrong with Bucky's arm, and have their own press conference to make up for the fact that the first one didn't work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! So, I was thinking and I'm not actually going to delete this yet, I'm having a bit too much fun writing it.

Steve was slightly disappointed to see that Wanda wasn't overreacting at all, and that there really was a problem.

Bucky was backstage, and clutching his metal arm tightly, eyes squeezed shut.

"Mr. Barnes, give me a pain number, 1-10," Peter said, but got no response.

"Bucky, can you hear me?" Steve asked, walking over to him. "I'm right here. We need to know you can hear us. I'm going to hold your hand. Try to squeeze back if you can hear me." 

Steve held his hand, and after a few seconds, Bucky squeezed his hand. 

They could both easily hear the twin sighs of relief from the two teenagers in the room.

"Can he talk?" Peter asked hopefully. "Since we couldn't get an answer, we couldn't tell."

Bucky opened his eyes a bit and looked over in the boy's direction.

"A bit."

"So, scale. 1-10?" he asked. 

"Don't know." 

"Okay, fine. So, is it just your arm?"

"Don't know." 

"Well that's not good. Wait a minute. Is the press conference still going?" 

"Yes," Steve replied. "I told Natasha to take over."

"Yeah, well, I can see her staring at me for answers so I don't know how long that will work," Wanda replied.

"Yeah, I didn't really think it would last long. She's my friend, but she's Bucky's too and she's probably worried."

"I'll say definitely-"

"Guys! Get Shuri!" Peter suddenly exclaimed, causing the two to jump and turn to look at him.

"Shuri isn't here, Peter," Wanda said, looking confused.

"Call her, then!" 

"Wait, why?"

"Shit!" Steve yelled, causing both kids to jump and stare at him.

Natasha was still glancing at them from where she was sitting on stage. She had apparently switched spots with Tony, because she was much closer to where she could quickly exit the stage. 

She seemed to calm down and actually watch what was going on around her until she saw Wanda leap up and run for a phone.

"Sam," Natasha whispered, nudging him. He looked over to her in confusion. 

She didn't answer his unspoken question, simply pointed backstage. He leaned over a bit to see where she was pointing, but he could see Wanda and Peter scrambling around while Steve looked worried. 

"That doesn't look good," Sam said. "We're going back there, aren't we?" 

"Yes. Pepper can deal with this."

"She's probably just gonna cancel it if her and Tony are the only ones left."

"Fine with me. Let's go."

The two walked into quite a scene.

"Shit shit shit shit, can he hear you? Can he talk?"

"Yes he can hear me, I don't know if he can talk. Who's calling Shuri?"

"I'm trying, I'm trying!" 

"Try harder!" 

"How do I try harder? She's just not picking up the phone, Wanda!" 

"Are we SURE it's just his arm bothering him, Peter?" 

"I am sure of absolutely nothing. Oh, Nat! Sam! Help us!" 

"Hello?" a voice finally sounded over the phone. 

"Thank gosh!" Peter exclaimed. "Shuri, we need your help. You know how you're really, really smart?" 

"Yes."

"Can those smarts help us right now?" 

"Can you explain the situation right now?"

"Uh, I think so. Hold on, let me put you on speaker."

That wasn't a good idea. Almost immediately following him doing so, Clint, (who was passing by,) accidentally touched Bucky's arm, which resulted in him trying to push Clint back, yelling. 

Peter could hear that something broke on the other end of the line. 

"What the heck? What's happening? Who's hurt?" 

"Bucky's arm is really, really badly hurt and we can't tell why, but Clint just came by real fast and touched his arm. That's all he did, and Bucky started screaming. None of us even know- Oh, shit."

"Oh shit, what?" Natasha and Shuri asked him.

"Oh shit such as, didn't we end up really close to some Hydra guy as he tried to leave yesterday?" 

Steve nodded a bit. "Yeah, we did. Do you think something happened?" 

Bucky nodded a bit, but didn't do anything after that. 

"I'm really, really regretting not knocking that guy out on the spot," Natasha said, shaking her head. 

"I'm on my way," Shuri replied seriously, then hung up.

 

Sam ended up being right; Pepper canceled the press conference, then grabbed Tony as the two hurriedly joined the group backstage. 

Three hours later, Shuri showed up, pushing and shoving her way past everyone, Okoye and Nakia behind her while T'challa was to her side, being able to keep up with her fast pace.

"Where is he?" she demanded.

Peter looked up, relieved, as she rushed in.

"Careful, there's a big group. Don't just slam into everyone trying to get to Mr. Barnes."

"Yeah, yeah. Who's all here?" 

"You, me, your friends-" 

"Okoye and Nakia."

"Okay. There's you, me, Okoye, Nakia, T'challa, Bucky, Steve, Pepper, Tony, Clint, Natasha, Wanda, and Sam, I think." 

"So thirteen people, twelve excluding myself. I can push them away."

Sure enough, that's what she did, with the help of Okoye, Peter, and T'challa. 

She didn't like what she saw.

Bucky sat on the floor, hair clinging to his face, as Steve grasped his hand tightly. (Not the one which was hurt, Steve's not that stupid.)

Bucky wasn't even yelling at this point, he was just sitting there silently, letting Steve hold his hand as if that helped anything.

"How bad?" 

"Won't hold my hand, won't talk. He's been like this for two hours, and Pepper even canceled the press conference," Steve answered.

"It's going to look like we backed out," Natasha said with a frown. "Now I can't make my point."

"...Which is?" 

"That out of our big friend group, we're either gay some way and won't let our friends take shit over it, or that we're straight as Clint's arrows and won't let our friends take shit over it. Either way." 

"So your grand plan was to threaten the general public?" 

"Only if they do something! Besides, you got anything better, Man With a Plan?" 

"Shut up, Natasha. Can we do this later?" 

"...Yeah, okay. So, Shuri, can you fix him?" 

"Can you tell us what's wrong?" 

"Both of you shush," was the response. "Let me get a better look so I can see what to do." 

A few hours went by.

"Oh," she said at last, causing all people in the room to look up at her.

"The arm is electrocuting him."

"Well, can you stop it?" Wanda asked.

"...Maybe. Let me try a few things and see if it works."

After the first try, she frowned and shook her head. Nothing changed.

After the second try, she frowned even harder, which caused the other people in the room look at each other in confusion.

After the third try, she outright cursed. 

"Mother of fuck! Stupid ass Hydra agent with his stupid ass lightning machines-" 

"Please elaborate, you're scaring us," Peter begged. 

"Right, okay. So basically, it's some kind of small disc in his arm that's shooting lightning up it." 

"Shit," he replied, making a face. "But you can fix it, right?" 

She also made a face. "To a certain extent. See, the way whoever the frick that was placed the disk makes it not only hard to take out, but lightning travels. So... I can help a little bit.."

"Then why are you hesitating?" 

"It's going to be a lot of work. I'm going to have to scan him and look over the results. More likely than not, especially if I can't get the disk out because of how small it is, the arm is going to either stop functioning entirely, or both stop functioning and cause pain."

"Hydra don't mess around," Wanda mumbled with a frown.

"Neither do we," Natasha said with a smile. "Peter, Tony, Steve, do any of you remember what the guy looks like?" 

A trio of "Yes," answered her.

"Beautiful. It won't take very long at all to track him down."

"And this guy is about to see what a bunch of angry Avengers feels like," Tony said with a smirk, which Natasha gladly reciprocated.

"I also know just what to do to make our own little press conference. We can scare anyone that even dares to get in Bucky or Steve's faces about anything from the last few days... While still making some people happy."

"Should I warn Pepper already?"

"Oh, definitely. We're going to get into some kind of trouble, no doubt."

Tony was more than a little confused, wondering what her plan is, when she came up to him an hour later asking what the colors of the pansexual flag were. 

"Uh, pink, yellow, and blue... Why?" 

"You'll see," was the only response. 

This continued.

"What's the colors of the bisexual flag?"

"Uhh... Ask Steve?" 

So she went up to him. "What's the colors of the bisexual flag?" 

"Do I want to know why you want to know?" 

"I'm planning my own press conference, just all of us in the room doing it. So I need an answer."

"Purple, pink, and blue."

"Thanks!" 

"Wh-"

 

A few days later, Shuri got all thirteen of the group to meet up.

"Okay, so, I have some news."

"Is it bad?" Peter asked.

"Do you want the good news, bad news, or worse news first?" 

"Good first."

"Good news is that Natasha beat that one guy up. Other good news is that I got the arm to stop hurting Bucky."

"The bad news?" Steve asked. 

"As most of you know, Bucky's been staying with me the last few days so I can figure out what to do. He hasn't talked much at all during that time, and I don't know if it's by choice or not."

"The worse news?" Wanda asked.

"His arm isn't going to work. It's just not going to do it, so I'm making him a new one. So, not all of my news was horrible."

"No, it wasn't," Natasha agreed. "Now that everyone is here, we're going to go to the park and have our own press conference."

"At the park?" Peter asked.

"So a lot of people can see us. I specifically picked it when I know people are nearby."

"Is that why you kept asking about flags?" Tony asked. Natasha nodded. 

"Now before we do this, you all have to agree to the plan, because I'm not going to be the one that outs any of you..."

 

"Is it filming?" 

"Yes."

"Excellent."

Natasha then got in front of the camera, fully aware people were staring.

"Hello, I'm Natasha Romanov. I'm an Avenger. Recently two of my friends came out and said that they're boyfriends, and they haven't exactly got the best response, so I hope this video helps with that." 

She stepped backward a bit to reveal several different little pins and buttons on her shirt, which was rainbow.

"I'm straight, but several of my friends aren't. And that's fine. I'll support them either way."

Wanda walked over next. 

"I'm Wanda Maximoff. I'm an Avenger, but I didn't used to be. Everyone here was incredibly nice and gave me a second chance, anyway."

She spun around a bit to show off her shirt, rainbow like Natasha's. 

"I'm a lesbian. And if you wouldn't mess with me, which you won't, I'm sure some of you watching this are smart enough to know I can mess you up, then why should you do it to my friends?" 

Peter came over next in his Spiderman mask and outfit.

"I'm Spiderman. I'm friends with the Avengers. I'm straight, and some of them aren't, and that's totally fine. Just know I have webs and can easily shut people up."

"I'm Shuri. I'm the princess of Wakanda, smart enough to take things down before you know what I'm doing, and I'm best friends with most of the Avengers."

She motioned behind her to Steve and Bucky.

"They're Steve and Bucky, which you know already, and they're bisexual, which you know already." 

T'challa, who was standing next to them, shook his head when Shuri turned to look at him, so she skipped him.

"I'm Tony Stark, and I'm an Avenger. I'm pansexual, and I don't have to say anything other than that, because you all probably get the picture by now."

Okoye didn't say a word, just held up her staff. Nakia held up a weapon of her own.

Sam walked over to the camera. "I'm Sam Wilson, I'm an Avenger. Steve is one of my best friends. He can easily fight people over all this but he's not. He's a good person. And you don't know any of us. Who are you to judge?"

Clint then walked over. "I'm Clint Barton, I'm an Avenger, I'm sure some of you have seen how good I am with my bow and arrow. I'm bisexual, and all of this bullshit over my teammates just because of who they like is frankly insulting. Yeah, I know. I read the internet."

Pepper didn't say anything, just waved at the camera before getting away from it.

With all of that said, Natasha got back in front of the camera, the others going behind her.

"I'm Natasha Romanov, and we're the Avengers. If I were you, I'd stay on our good side." 

She gave a small, threatening smirk to the camera before finishing.

"Thanks for listening." 


	5. Wanda was Hydra- Who Knew?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A few days later, on top of the regular mess, Bucky finds out that Wanda was with Hydra and nobody told him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi all. Please feel free to comment any suggestions or requests!

Natasha quickly went to the Avengers Tower, where she knew Steve would be for game night. 

Sure enough, he was sitting on the floor beside Wanda, who was pouting at Clint over a rule he made.

"Steve, we have to talk."

"Are you breaking up with me?" came the fully sarcastic response.

She rolled her eyes as she shook her head. "No, Bucky and Shuri were out for lunch earlier. She called me and all she said was that Bucky's pissed off..." Then she looked over at Wanda.

"And to keep him away from you."

She looked a bit confused. "Uh, okay, sure?"

"Excellent. Now I'm out of here. Sam, keep me posted."

He nodded before looking back down at the game board. "Got it."

Natasha heard a confused "What was that about?" but she didn't stay behind.

 

"UNO!" 

"FUCK, you aren't cheating, right?"

Wanda crossed her arms. "Define cheating." 

"Not following the rules! Especially the one I  _just gave you."_

"I didn't use my magic!" Wanda yelled defensively. "I swear to you."

Clint frowned. "Vision can see all the cards from where he's sitting. You sure that he didn't cheat, either?" 

"I didn't," came Vision's calm response. 

"She used her magic!" Tony protested, pointing. "I saw her!"

"I didn't!" 

"Yes you did!" 

"Yes she did!" Peter agreed. Then he paused, looking a bit confused. "How did she even get her powers, anyway? Did she just always have them, or?" 

"Pietro and I got ours when we were little."

"Who's Pietro?" 

"My brother. We were twins. But to answer your question... I was working- oh, ah, that's not gonna sound good..."

"What's not gonna sound good?" He asked, looking over at the doorway, then back at Wanda.

He was the only one that realized Bucky was standing there, holding several bags and trying to get someone's attention. It really wasn't working, because the team was too busy accusing each other of cheating.

"What's not gonna sound good?" Peter repeated, starting to glare. Wanda looked away slightly, before grabbing the Uno cards and starting to shuffle them.

"Wanda..." 

"Pietro and I were just being dumb kids. Everyone knows what that's like. We were being dumb kids and we stumbled across a stone, the same kind that Vision has." 

He didn't even answer that at first. He just stared at her like she was stupid. When the others weren't looking, he looked back toward the doorway and mouthed, "She's lying." 

"Wanda," Steve scolded. "Come on, don't do that."

"Don't do what?" 

"You don't need to lie to him."

She opened her mouth to say she wasn't lying, but that wouldn't exactly work in a room full of Avengers. 

"She used her powers and messed with our heads," Tony said, before grabbing some cards from the deck.

"She did?" Peter asked. He hadn't been with the group during that, so he didn't know.

He nodded. "She did. Ask anyone."

Sure enough, when the younger of the two turned his head to look at the others, they were nodding.

"She's with us now, though!" Steve exclaimed. Everyone ignored him.

"Okay, but, this doesn't explain how she got her powers. That's all I asked, and she lied to me over it!" 

"I didn't-"

"Steve just called you out in front of everyone over it. What's the truth that's so bad that you don't even want to tell me?" 

"Ah..."

"She was with Hydra," Clint answered. 

"She worked with them and volunteered to do tests which got her her powers, from what I know," Sam chimed in.

"So... She worked with them by choice?" Peter asked cautiously, fully aware of Bucky listening in. 

"She probably didn't know what she was getting into," Steve replied, defending her.

"Yes she joined on purpose, she knew who Hydra was, and she got her powers because of them," Maria Hill said, who had been there the whole time and was just calmer than the others.

Peter simply let out a big, heavy sigh.

"Well, shit." 

 


	6. Too calm... For a few minutes.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bucky is way calmer then Peter would expect. Some of the team tries to play dumb and it doesn't work.

"Uh... Guys."

"Yeah?" Steve asked, glaring at Wanda before she could try to use her powers on the cards again. She pouted slightly but didn't do anything otherwise. 

Considering the fact that Peter was just told one of his teammates was with Hydra, he was remarkably calm. Maybe a bit nervous, but nothing bad. 

Sam handed him some cards and motioned for him to sit down. "Come on, everyone else already has their cards."

"Uh, wait-" 

"Come on!" Wanda scolded, sounding annoyed. "I wanna win."

"Wanda-"

"I wont use my powers to get in your head, I promise! I'm not gonna cheat, I keep getting caught."

"I'm not the one you should be promising," Peter mumbled. But unfortunately, Steve heard him.

"What are you talking about?"

"Oh, nothing much..."

_You guys never thought to tell the guy captured and tortured by Hydra that one of our teammates was Hydra and now he's standing in the hallway looking ready to tear something to shreds. But you know, NOTHING MUCH._

"Thanks for being so cool over my story, Peter," Wanda said with a friendly smile as she picked up her cards, no magic involved. "Who's going first?" 

"Before you do that, someone mind helping me with these bags?" 

She turned slightly to see Bucky standing in the doorway, bags all around him. He couldn't even get through the door without dropping something.

"Wanda and Peter are closer, they can help. That work?" 

Wanda looked unconcerned, getting up with a nod and a shrug.

Peter looked afraid. He really didn't need to see a fight.

When the teen got close enough to grab some bags, Bucky dropped the deadly calm look for a few seconds, long enough to whisper.

"What the actual hell did I just hear, kid?" 

"I don't know. I mean, I do know, but I  _didn't_ know any of that before she just said it. I probably should have tried to help out with the bags earlier, but I figure that since you didn't know either, that you'd want to-" 

The creepily calm look returned. "Kid, calm down. Relax."

"That doesn't calm me down!" 

"What doesn't?"

"You look ready to kill someone, not play Uno."

" _Relax."_

"I can't relax when you're gonna kill someone!" 

Steve looked worried. "Everything okay over there?" 

"Oh, yeah."

"That doesn't seem okay. Who's killing who?" 

"Nobody's killing anyone," Bucky said flatly, shaking his head.

That didn't work. Steve squinted at him and shook his head. "Who are you fighting?" 

"How did you-"

"I  _know_ you, Bucky. You're probably furious."

"I am."

"Why?" 

"Quick question. Who was the first person to notice me?"

"Wanda, I think. She saw you being drowned in bags and went over to help."

"Nope," Bucky said, shaking his head. "Peter. Hey, Peter, tell everyone here how long I've been standing here, please."

"Oh no," the teen whispered. He repeated the words when he realized everyone was looking at them.

"Uh... Earlier. Uno. He was there during Uno."

"Then why do you look so worried?" Sam asked.

"Hold up," he said a second later. "Which part of Uno?"

"Uh..."

"Which part?" Wanda asked, voice shaking slightly.

"He's been here since before I asked you about how you got your powers."

Her eyes went huge as some of the bags dropped from her hands. "What the fuck," she whispered quietly. "Uh, can you guys play without me? I just need to, yeah..."

"Well she's terrified," Maria pointed out, not moving to help calm down the girl like some of the others did.

Sam simply went and sat down next to Maria, pulling out his phone.

"You aren't gonna help?"

"Nope. Really was dumb not to inform Bucky. She can handle being a little scared."

"Why didn't you tell him?" 

"I thought he knew. Why didn't you?" 

"I thought Steve told him," she said. "He told me that he would."

"Yeah, well, I guess he didn't. Hold on a sec, I gotta call Natasha. I told her I'd keep her updated."

"Hey," he said into the phone. "Oh, he pulled a murder face and looks ready to fight. I don't think he actually will though, not in a room full of everyone."

He was almost immediately proven wrong, judging by the quick way Bucky tried to get a weapon. 

"She gets in people's  _heads?"_ he realized.

"Natasha, hurry the heck up,'" Sam said into the phone. "He's going to attack her." 

 

 


	7. "Do you like the cold?"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bucky, Steve, and Sam decide to get away from the Wanda mess and all go for a walk, where they encounter a group of kids.
> 
> Every little kid loves Captain America, and that's what the trio was expecting. However, one little girl with a prosthetic arm barely bats an eye at him.

"Uh, excuse you, I'm the best at making cookies. My chocolate chip ones are amazing."

"Just wait until I learn how to bake again and blow whatever you made out of the water," Bucky said confidently, walking beside Sam. 

Steve was rolling his eyes at the two and was about to respond when a basketball came out of nowhere and hit his foot. 

"What-" 

A flock of little girls came running over. 

"What the heck was that, Emmy?" 

"You just threw a basketball at  _Captain America,_ Emmy!" 

" _And_ it almost hit the Falcon." 

"Gimme a break!" one of the littlest girls said. 

One of the older ones, wearing Falcon pins in her hair pushed forward. "Hi, look, we're so sorry and we didn't know that was going to happen. It's just that  _somebody,"_ she glared behind her as she said this, "Wasn't paying enough attention. She apologizes."

"Did you know there was Falcon hair clips?" Bucky asked Sam quietly. The other man nodded slightly.

"I've never seen anyone with one, though. Looks like I got a fan. Though she could be a bit nicer, it's not like getting hit by a basketball is gonna kill any of us."

"And she could bother to let the little one speak on her own."

The oldest girl, who they later learned was named Angela, kept talking. Well, more accurately, rambling as she tried to introduce the group standing behind her.

She nodded beside her at the oldest boy, who frowned and rolled his eyes at something one of the younger girls said. 

"Chill out, kid! Emmy's perfectly fine. I'm not too worried about hurting her feelings right now, she'll get over it."

"No, that's not even the problem! Which you would know if you bothered to even look at her arm for once." 

"Her arm could fall off!" 

" _What?!"_ Steve, Sam, and several kids exclaimed at once.

"What's the problem here?" Steve asked worriedly.

Angela groaned. "Way to go, Emmy, you scared Captain America!" 

"It wasn't even Emmy! It was me, Maria!" 

"What's going on?" Sam asked.

"Emmy's arm is hurting her and nobody cares! I think it backfired on her when she tried to throw the basketball." 

"Backfired?" 

"Oh, lay off it," Angela said, rolling her eyes. "She's fine. Neither of you would understand."

"There's three of us." 

"...Three?" 

It was only then that the group noticed Bucky, and they all started yelling and talking. He didn't bother to listen in and figure out what they were saying, since their expressions clearly said they were afraid.

Maria startled every last one of them when she looked at him, looked at his metal arm, and grinned. 

" _Perfect._ Can you stay here for a few seconds? I want to try something."

"....Sure?" 

She ran back into the crowd and emerged with a girl who was cradling a prosthetic arm, then went over to stand directly in front of Steve.

"Captain America's gonna help you with your arm, okay? He can make it stop hurting, Emmy."

Emmy scoffed. "No." 

"Okay."

They went over to a confused Sam.

"Sam's gonna help you with your arm, okay? He can make it stop hurting."

"I can try," he said. "What about it is bothering her?" 

"It hurts her, she can't say much more than that."

"Can't?" Bucky asked.

"Yeah, can't. She doesn't know what's wrong with her, so she doesn't know how to say it in English." 

"I'm gonna guess she wasn't born here?" 

"I was," Emmy said. "Mom speaks Russian. Dad speaks English." 

He nodded a bit. Emmy seemed to be staring at him, which wasn't too surprising. What was surprising was how she walked right over to him.

"Fix it, please."

"I'll try, but what makes you think I know how to fix it?" 

She pointed at his metal arm. "That."

He shook his head. "It's different technology. Mine is metal and I almost certainly got it in a different way than you got yours."

"But isn't mine metal?" 

"He got his from Hydra," Sam said. "Do you know who they are?" 

She frowned. "Obviously."

"I think he's trying to say that Hydra did things much differently than people actually specialized to work with prosthetics."

"I'll still try," Bucky said. "Emmy, can you come a bit closer so I can see your arm better?" 

She smiled a bit and did so. "It feels tight," she said. "It always does, but like... Different tight."

"Tighter than when you got it?" 

She thought, then shrugged. "I don't know."

"Okay. Is it tighter than usual?" 

"Yes."

He nodded, smiling at her a bit. "I actually think I know how to fix that."

She grinned at him. "Yay, thank you!" 

Bucky heard a quiet, "aww" from near him.

"You're cradling it against your chest and I can't do anything that way. Can you put it in front of you?"

She did so.

"Good job. Now let me just- ....Oh."

"Oh what?" 

"Nothing. Don't worry much about it."

Then he motioned a confused Steve over.

"What's the problem, Buck? You do know how to fix it, don't you?"

"I do. I shouldn't."

"His arm isn't like hers," Sam explained.

"That's not it. I thought it was all different."

"It's not?" 

"It's the same technology." 

 


	8. "Hydra suck and I want the pretty red book they have!"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Four hours later than Bucky, Steve, and Sam said they would be, they go back to the Avengers, child in tow. This is what happens before they get back.

"Alright, all done!" 

Emmy grinned, moving her arm around. "It feels so much better! How did you know what to do? Is it because of your arm?" Then she gasped, eyes widening. "We're twins!" 

Sam leaned over toward Steve and whispered, "Taking a walk was a good idea."

Steve, looking at how seemingly relaxed Bucky seemed, nodded.

"We gotta find a way to keep him in touch with that kid."

Sam immediately nodded. "Probably the best idea you've had so far." 

"I've had just fine plans!" 

"Sure, why not." 

Bucky barely looked at them as he said, "Better than your usual. And yes, Emmy. Definitely twins." 

" _Definitely,"_ she agreed. Then she looked up at the sky and frowned as a snowflake landed on her nose. "Maybe it's the cold that messed up my arm. Maybe that's why my arm wouldn't move much."

"Actually, that sounds about right. You don't like the cold?" 

She shook her head. "I hate it. I  _hate_ winter. It's the worst. It's just snow and cold all the time. I can never even find a comfortable jacket since I'm too small for everything Angela gives me. And I'm all about comfort." Then she paused for a second, her eyes widening even more as her smile slipped away. 

"Oh my  _gosh,_ here I am, in the middle of the park, ranting about wintertime to you. I just met you! Listen, if you can just ignore everything I've just said, that would be great. Please?" 

Bucky stared at her for a few seconds, trying to comprehend everything she just said, before bursting out laughing. 

"Kid, complain all you want about the weather, I don't care. I don't even like the cold."

Emmy grinned again as she started again, getting even more excited as she spoke, happy giggles proving infectious. 

"Bucky is considering adoption as we speak," Sam said, rolling his eyes. Steve started laughing, also rolling his eyes.

The duo kept laughing and joking around with each other until they saw Emmy suddenly stop talking. She looked around for her older sister and waved her over.

"Hey kiddo, I'm sorry about getting snappy at you earlier. Bad day is all. And I might have been a bit startled. It's not every day we meet superheros."

"I already forgive you, and meet... Wait, what do you even want me to call you?" 

"Bucky."

"Meet Bucky."

"Isn't he-" 

"Shh shh shh, Angie. But yes. He helped me fix my arm."

"I'm sure he did. Is this why you called me over? Or wait, do you have a school thing coming up that I need to sign the permission slip for?" 

"Wouldn't someone else do that?" Bucky asked.

"Our parents are the actual worst, so I'm in charge legally. That was a mess, don't ask. Seriously though, kiddie, why am I here?" 

"Because I want your help to get a book to read while you hang out with your friends."

"You brought books. You brought your backpack, even. You have homework."

"I did it."

"So read the books you have."

"But I already did. They aren't... The right color!"

"What?" 

"I need my book with the red cover."

"Which one? You have several at home." 

"The reddest one!" 

"How is one book more red than the others?"

"Guess please."

"The one with the barnyard animals."

"No."

"The one that's mostly English?" 

"No."

She paused. "Is it the one with no pictures?" 

"Yes!" 

"Oh my  _gosh,_ Emmy. Seriously?"

"Yes."

"Where did you even get that idea? Why do you want it? It has nothing to do with you, does it?" 

"Well, no-" 

Angela groaned, then lowered her voice. "That's not even a good revenge tactic. They try to kidnap you, you steal their book?"

"Okay, what?" Steve asked, looking truly lost.

"How do you think she got the arm? We had a problem. A big one."

"So her response is that she wants a book they have?" 

"She's a very weird child."

"Yes, I am!" Emmy exclaimed proudly. "Hydra suck and I want the pretty red book they have, don't judge me!"

Steve looked a bit confused still. Sam left to get a hotdog. 

"Emmy, you can't just say those things in public!" Angela scolded. 

"But I want to."

"But you shouldn't! Seriously though, what exactly are you planning on doing? Attacking a Hydra base, finding the book, and leaving?" 

"No," she said, very calmly. She waited for Sam to come back over before continuing.

She then pointed at something, ignoring the confused look her sister gave her.

"There's a group of Hydra agents right over there that have the red book."


	9. Kids Meet Avengers.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bucky shows back up again after being four hours late, with three kids. The Avengers are a bit concerned.

"What's with the children?" was the very first thing Tony asked as Bucky came stomping inside, trio of kids behind him as he walked.

"We took our walk, and there was a group of kids playing basketball," Sam began. "Right off the bat, they all got excited over Steve, except for like, two kids."

He pointed over to where Maria shoved Emmy behind her and tried to look as tall and tough as she could, which wasn't very much. 

"I went to make sure Emmy got the help she needed. I tried to take her to Mr. Steve Captain America, whatever the flip I'm supposed to call him." 

"Just call him Steve." 

She nodded. "Okay. Anyway, Emmy flat out refused to get his help, then we noticed Mr. Bucky, if I can call him that. So he helped Emmy."

"Kid's practically attached, now," Sam said with a smile. Angela, who was standing beside him, smiled too.

Emmy gently pushed herself in front of Maria, prosthetic arm on full display, frowning as her curly, brown hair fell over her face.

The child looked fairly confident for standing in front of all the Avengers.

"It's nice to meet you," she said politely. "My name is Emmy."

She then motioned to the taller child beside her. "This is Maria."

Maria Hill grinned. "I like her already." 

"And I'm Angela," Angela said, walking forward to shake Tony's hand.

"It's a pleasure to meet you." 

"She's internally screaming," whispered Emmy. Maria grinned in response, nodding. 

"Shut up."

Maria's grin widened.

Then she looked over at Wanda, back to Bucky, then back to Wanda, and frowned.

"You're the red head with the red hands?" 

"Yes. I'm Wanda, nice to meet you." 

"Yeah, I know. I wanted to ask-" 

"Thank you Maria, shut up please!" Emmy exclaimed, before wincing as she looked down at her leg.

"So what's the deal here?" Natasha asked. "Got in a fight?" 

"Yes," Angela replied. "This dumb little-" 

"Hey!" 

"- She decided that trying to sneak around and get some book from a group of Hydra agents would be a good idea."

"They weren't even paying much attention to me, the only reason I got hurt was because I jumped in front of Mr. Sam!" 

"Just call me Sam," he said. "And never jump in front of me like that ever again."

"Who attacked you?" Tony asked.

"Hydra," Bucky said.

"And the book the kids are talking about is?" 

"None of your business. Doesn't matter, we didn't get it anyway."

"Are you sure?" Emmy asked.

"Yes... Oh my gosh what did you  _do?!"_

She pulled out a red book with a black star on the front as she watched Steve, Natasha, and Bucky stare at her.


	10. This Kid Isn't Dumb.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emmy knows very well what book she grabbed, why she did, and some of what's inside of it. (Maria, on the other hand...)

Steve, Natasha, and Bucky stared in absolute surprise. 

Sam looked over at Steve in concern when the man looked down at the book and scowled as Emmy flipped it open. 

"I'm not reading this," Steve announced, only a page in. He walked back over to Sam.

"What's the problem? What's the book?" 

He only got a heavy sigh in response.

"Why the hell is that book here?" Natasha asked quietly, looking uncharacteristically concerned. "That child is no more than seven. She couldn't have gone against Hydra, won, and got the book." 

"Well, Steve, Bucky, and I were doing most of the fighting. I guess we weren't paying enough attention to the kids because next thing we know, they come back with this book that's freaking even  _you_ out."

"I'm not freaked out," she replied defensively, crossing her arms. "Just... friendly concern."

"You're never worried over anything, you can usually just beat the problem up." 

"Yeah, well. Everything in there is from the past... Or most of it, anyway. Just try to keep the book away from Wanda and Bucky."

"Looks to me like Bucky's avoiding it anyway," Sam pointed out. "He's scolding Emmy instead."

"She doesn't seem very sorry," Wanda said amusedly. 

"I'm  _sorry!"_ Emmy yelled out, contradicting her. "I wasn't thinking, I didn't think it would be a problem!" 

"It's Hydra, kiddo, it's always a problem. And you're small."

"Exactly! That's why I grabbed the book!" 

"You're small, and that means I might not have seen you, and might not have been able to protect you. Especially with you running all around like that."

"Look, I said I'm sorry. I really didn't think I would worry you so much. We haven't even known each other for a whole day yet."

"That doesn't matter. Something really could have gone wrong back there, and if that ever happens, you have to stay behind and hidden. Okay?"

"Okay, but it's not like anything happened-" 

And of course, that's when little Maria, who was flipping through the book, spoke up.

"Hey, what's this say?" 

"What is it?" Bucky asked. 

She handed the book over to Emmy instead of answering. 

"I'm not saying that," the younger child said seriously.

"Why?" 

"I won't."

"But I want to know how to pronounce it, and you clearly know how. You know Russian."

"Yes, I do."

"Then TELL me!" 

"That would be the stupidest, most dangerous thing I could ever do in my life. Ever."

"Well, I'll just try on my own."

"No, Maria!" 

The older girl ignored her and squinted down at the page. "Is this like a chant or something?" 

"No."

"Ooh! Is it a song, maybe?"

"No!" 

"What are you even talking about?" Bucky asked, smiling as the girls frowned at each other for a few seconds before they dropped it, not being able to stay mad at each other.

"I can't pronounce these stupid Russian words. Can you speak Russian?"

"Uh..."

"What about Miss Black Widow?" 

"Let me see what you want to say first," Natasha replied. Once handed the book, she quickly shook her head. "Not gonna help you say that."

"Ugh!" Maria yelled. "Literally every single Avenger, excluding Mr. Captain America, maybe, is bilingual. Why won't anyone help me with this?!" 

Natasha shot a no longer concerned, and now actually worried, look to Sam as the child scowled at the book, mumbled under her breath, straightened up, and opened her mouth wide, ready to read the words on the page. 

Once the child actually got started, messing up and stumbling her way through the Russian on the page, Sam nudged a confused and half asleep Steve, silently willing him to pay attention.

"Wake up, wake up..." 

"M' wake," he replied sleepily. "Why?" 

"Does he always get like this after a long run?" Tony asked. Sam shook his head.

"No, but usually he doesn't have to fight Hydra right after, and usually he hasn't been up for days."

"There's not enough time for this!" Natasha barked out, fumbling around for a weapon. Seeing as it was game night, the sharpest thing in the room was probably an Uno card.

"What the hell is even  _happening?!"_ Clint asked. 

"Russian Hydra book, words Natasha won't say, will hardly look at, Bucky isn't even moving, and you're asking what's going on?!" Wanda yelled out, startling Steve, who blinked as he straightened up a bit. 

"Wait a minute-"

"STEVE, WAKE UP RIGHT NOW!" Emmy suddenly shouted, and nearly everyone in the room jumped.

He blinked a bit more, looking around the room, only to see everyone looking around for a weapon while Angela was trying to shove Angela and Maria out of the room, while Tony looked like he was calling someone for immediate help, and Natasha was hurrying around to get that damned red book away from Maria.

He barely had a grip on the situation. He was trying to find his shield, before remembering that it's not in the room.

"...This isn't going to be good." 


	11. This Kid Is A Bit Dumb.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maria almost triggers Bucky and the others are trying to fix things.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been pretty busy so I haven't updated this, (I had a dance performance, it's my birthday, etc...) But if you WERE waiting for an update, thank you for being patient!

"MARIA, NO!" 

"Maria, SHUT UP!" 

"Maria oh my gosh oh my GOSH!" 

"Everyone just shut up!" Tony shouted. Surprisingly, even little Maria stopped talking. 

"Drop the book," Natasha said, voice deadly calm. "Drop it. Now."

Maria dropped it.

"One word," said Emmy shakily. "One word off. Maria, what were you  _thinking?!"_

"I just wanted to read! What did I do that's so wrong?" 

"How do I even begin..." 

"Um, maybe the kids should just go... Play video games," Peter said. 

Sam scoffed at him. "I'm pretty sure that includes you."

Peter crossed his arms. "I'm old enough to understand the situation. Maria might not be."

"I can understand it," Emmy pointed out. "I don't get why she can't."

"Well," Clint called out. "It's a bit of a difficult topic to discuss. Especially to kids as young as you."

"We need a break," Steve sighed. 

All Bucky did was nod.


	12. The Halloween Special.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Angela, Emmy, and Maria are ready to go trick or treating... But they won't do it without Bucky!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whatcha all going as for Halloween tonight?

"Bucky!" a loud voice yelled. 

"AHH!"

"Happy Halloweeners!" Emmy yelled out cheerfully. "It's time to  _party!"_

"We're too young to party," Maria reminded, walking in with a pumpkin Halloween bucket.

"It's time to get some  _candy!"_

"That, we can do." 

Bucky calmly set his book down and looked over at the kids, confused.

"Now, what are you talking about?" 

"This is Halloween!" 

"This is Halloween, this is Halloween,  _this is Halloween!"_ Emmy sang along, jingling her own Halloween bucket. 

"...That doesn't help me," Bucky pointed out as Steve started laughing. 

"You  _have_ to come with us!" Maria said cheerfully. "Please?" 

"Maria and I are going trick or treating with Angela, she's taking us! But we wanted you to come with us. It'll be tons of fun, I promise!" 

"Do I positively  _need_ a costume?" 

"His face is scary enough," Sam remarked as he walked in, Cassie and Peter walking along behind him.

"I'm not scary."

Sam scoffed.

"Not intentionally." 

"That's wrong, but okay." 

Cassie ignored the duo and walked over to Emmy and Maria. 

"Hi! Who are you?" the eleven year old asked. She was already in costume. 

"Hi! I'm Emmy. Emila, Emma... Whatever you wanna call me. Who are you?" 

"I'm Cassie Lang. It's nice to meet you. Who's she?" 

"I'm Maria," she said. "Nice to meet you, Cassie. So! ....What are you?" 

"I'm an ant! Isn't it cool?" 

"Uh-" 

"It's so ugly, isn't it?" 

The girl paused, not wanting to offend her maybe new friend. 

"...It sure is!"

Cassie beamed in response. "So! What are you and Emmy gonna be?" 

"I'm gonna be a baseball player, and I think Emmy's going to be a fairy. Or a princess. Or a mermaid? Something cutesy."

Both Maria and Cassie made a face as Emmy ran from the room, then came back with, true to word, a princess costume.

"Ta-da!" 

"You're definitely a princess," was Cassie's observation. "Belle, maybe?" 

"Yeah, I'm Belle, alright." She spun around, showing off both the yellow dress and a bit of her prosthetic/metal arm. 

Cassie, to her credit, looked at it for a few seconds before shrugging, not questioning it. She simply ran over and linked arms with the younger kids.  

"We've got to get Scott in here," Angela said, smiling as he came in.

He gave a huge smile as he looked over the three kids. 

"This is adorable." 

Sam nodded. "Sure is. Now Peter, Angela, get over there, I think Scott's gonna take some pictures."

"That I am!" He replied happily, pointing the camera at the five. 

"Say cheese!" 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't see Ant Man and the Wasp, so I have no idea how to write Cassie. Did I do alright?


	13. "I thought you were a dad or something."

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Scott hears a conversation between Bucky and Emmy and thinks that they're father and daughter.

"Bucky!"

Bucky looked up, not looking too surprised at the sight of Emmy, seeing as she had spent the night, after all.

"What's up, kid?"

"Do you know how to do hair?"

"Uh... A bit."

She grinned. "Great! Can you teach me? I have to be able to put my hair in a bun by the time the Nutcracker comes around."

"You dance?"

"Twice a week! So, can you help me?"

"Uh, sure. I'm a bit rusty, I haven't done anyone's hair since..." He trailed off.

"Since before me?" the little girl guessed brightly, either not noticing him hesitate or not seeing it as a problem. Or both.

Bucky chuckled anyway. "Yeah, since way before you."

"I thought so! I know that you're older than me. You're in your thirties, right? Or you're like, a hundred. But that's probably wrong."

"Actually-"

"You're actually one hundred?! You look so young though!"

"Says the person who's like, nine years old."

"Seven, actually! Almost eight."

"Almost? When's your birthday?"

"It's this month. When's yours?"

"March. Are you busy on your birthday?"

She shook her head, then paused and clapped her hands. "Do you wanna do something together?!"

"That's what I was about to ask, yeah. Maybe next week. Does that work?"

It was obvious that it worked, judging by the excited expression she had on her face.

"Let's do it! Can we go shopping? Please? Can I invite Maria? And Cassie? Also, Angela's gonna wanna go with us because she's protective and doesn't trust you fully yet which is so stupid, we've known each other for weeks now! Maybe even months! You're super cool, and you have an arm just like mine, and-"

Bucky accidentally interrupted her by bursting out laughing.

"Calm down! Kid, relax! We can go shopping, get ice cream, heck we could even go to the zoo if you wanted, I don't care. You do like animals, right?"

"Bucky," the child said, deadpan. "Who the fudge doesn't like animals."

"Okay, okay, I was just checking!"

Emmy grinned. "We're gonna have so much fun! Some ice cream-"

"Which is going to hype you up. Maybe I shouldn't have said-"

She stared at him, then gasped, long and dramatic. "Don't you dare!"

"I was kidding! Although, it's true."

"No it isn't!"

Bucky simply raised an eyebrow at her, not saying a word.

"Okay, maybe. But thank you thank you for offering to take me! And my friends!"

"Cassie's gonna be thrilled," a sudden voice said.

The two jumped, then looked behind them to see that it wasn't a stranger in the room; it was Scott.

"How long have you been there?" Bucky asked.

"Not long, honestly. I just heard that Emmy wants to invite Cassie to go shopping and maybe the zoo. Which, good idea, by the way, but maybe I won't let Cassie have a lot of ice cream."

"She's gonna get hyped up like Emmy here?"

"Probably even worse. You really don't want to see Cassie on a sugar rush. It's not a whole lot of fun when she's bouncing off the walls. I'm just glad it's not literally."

"See, there's a reason not to invite the spider kid. Maria and Cassie are friends with him, but if we give him enough sugar, he can literally bounce off the walls, no problem."

"I'd pay to see that!" Emmy said excitedly, reaching into her pocket and pulling out a dollar.

"Yeah, maybe under somebody else's watch. Now go find Cassie and invite her, okay?"

"Okay!"

A few seconds after she was gone, door closing loudly behind her, Scott smiled and went to sit down on the couch.

"She seems like a nice kid."

Bucky nodded, smiling a little. "She is. A good kid."

He nodded. "And you seem to be a great dad. Tip of advice, though? Don't give her tons of sweets if you can't handle her energy."

"Wha- a dad?"

"Are you not?"

"No! No no, no I'm not. I wouldn't know how to take care of a kid in the first place. Did you really think I'm related to Em?"

Scott shrugged. "Yeah, actually. I thought you were a dad or something."

"...Or something."

"Ah" was the response, tone full of approval. "You might be in denial."

"What- I'm not in denial. Seriously, I'm not biologically her father. I can promise that."

"Biologically."

"Yes."

"Just because she isn't your blood, doesn't mean she isn't your family, or at least a part of it. Now, I'm gonna let you go think on that while I go bug Sam. I'll see you next week?"

Bucky seemed rightfully distracted as he replied.

"Yeah. See you next week."


	14. "You don't like me."

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While most of the Avengers are off at school or busy for the day, Bucky tries his hardest to be friends with Wanda again and vice versa, but it doesn't work.

"Where is everybody?" 

Steve looked over and silently handed Bucky a plate of toast before answering.

"Peter's at school, Tony and Pepper are off at some meeting, who knows where Thor is, Natasha is training, Clint went off to visit his kids, Sam's in DC, Bruce is with Thor I believe, and Wanda's just downstairs. Why?" 

"No reason. Thanks."

 

"Wanda."

She looked up a bit, then her eyes widened as she put down her book.

"Uh. Yes?" 

"Steve said you weren't busy today?" 

She squinted at him, suspicious. "I'm not. Why?" 

"Uh well, I was thinking-" 

"Look, I know you don't like me."

"What?" 

"I know you don't like me. Why do you want to hang out?" 

"I never said-" 

"Please, I'm not stupid. You don't like me, you're mad at me. I get it, I do. So why are you down here?" 

"I was trying to see if you wanted to go get breakfast somewhere with Nat and I. Steve's been trying to cook again, and it's just not working. Have you tried his toast? Or eggs?" 

She made a face. "How do you mess up eggs?"

Bucky made a face, too. "I don't know kid, but he manages. So are you coming or not?" 

"...I guess. If we both go without weapons." 

He stared at her for a few seconds. "What do you think I'm going to do to you?" 

"Nothing! Nothing, I'm just..." 

"Just?" 

"Just... Cautious! I'm just a bit cautious, is all. Besides, what's the worst that can happen if we leave weapons here?" 

"Now that you said that, a lot. Wait. Do you even  _use_ anything, or is it all you?"

"All me, technically. What, you think I'm gonna try something on you?" 

"If you ever tried, you wouldn't live long enough to finish."

"Yikes," she mumbled. 

"What was that?" 

"This isn't going to work," she said, a bit louder.

Bucky scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Obviously." 

"Then  _why_ are you even trying? No excuses."

He sighed. "At some point, we're gonna have to fight with each other."

"You're joining Avengers missions?" 

"I sure hope not. But if I ever do, and more than likely before that, because any time you all get too outnumbered, I'll have to join you all. And that means you and I will have to get along."

"I don't see that happening."

"Yeah, well, neither do I. But if it gets down to it, we're going to have to battle together and-" 

"This isn't working! This isn't working, it's not going to work, and you won't even be backup. Steve and Tony are making a backup or secondary team in case of emergencies, and more members will be added to the Avengers, which you probably already knew." 

"There's going to be a second team? And more Avengers?" 

Wanda paused. "You didn't know?"

"...No. But you also could be lying."

"I could be. But I'm not. Ask Steve or Tony, they'll confirm it."

"I'm sure they will," Bucky said sarcastically. 

"Seriously, go check! If I'm right, you owe me ten dollars."

"I don't owe you anything."

"You won't know unless you ask them!" 

"Even if you were right, it's not my business anyway. I'm not an Avenger."

"You're probably going to be marrying into the Avengers either way."

"What are you talking about?" 

"Yeah, Steve was telling m- oh. Oh shit never mind, I'm not supposed to say that!" 

And before Bucky could even ask her anything more, she fled the room.


	15. Boyfriends?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve's been avoiding most of the team, seeming to disappear for long periods of time. The secrets he's been keeping have results.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All the random pauses and spaces are time jumps.

"Steve, where are you- Steve hey, wait up!" 

Steve shook his head. "Can't, got work."

"I don't see any emergencies going on."

"No no, I mean yes. There's Avengers business going on. We're recruiting new members, I'm sure that Wanda told you."

Bucky nodded. "She did, I just didn't believe her." 

"You guys still aren't getting along?" 

"No. Can you really blame me?" 

"No! No, of course I can't. It's understandable. I mean, she was-"

"Yeah. I know."

Steve winced. "...Right. Sorry. Bad subject."

"Understatement."

"I know, sorry. But I gotta go right now, I'll be back later, I promise."

 

"Wanna go on a date?" 

Bucky looked up, a bit startled by Steve's sudden appearance.

"I thought you were busy..."

"I really am, but I want to make more time for you."

Bucky brightened up a bit. "Well, in that case, let's do it. Where to?"

"You'll see."

"It's a surprise, isn't it?" 

Steve grinned. "Absolutely!" 

 

 

"Steve, are we there yet? Where even are we?" 

"Take off the blindfold... Thanks for helping me out, Sam."

"No problem, man." Then he looked over and smiled at Bucky and Steve's interlocked hands. 

"You two have fun tonight. Don't get yourselves in trouble tonight, don't get into any fights or anything. Now, if either one of you hurts each other in any way shape or form, I might have to shoot you."

Bucky blinked a bit, staring at him in surprise.

"Is this a shovel talk?"

Sam nodded. "This is very much a shovel talk, and it applies to both of you."

"...Well then, okay."

"Consider this my official blessing, not that you need it. How long have you two been together, anyway?'

"Recently, or?" 

"Altogether."

Steve paused, then started laughing. "We were together in secret ever since we were teenagers, but we never officially broke up!" 

"So, forever, basically?"

Bucky nodded. "Forever, basically."

"Well that's good. You two have fun, I'm gonna go leave you two alone." 

"Bye."

"Bye." 

With that, Sam left.

 

 

Bucky started laughing. "You were so stupid."

"I'm not!" 

"I said was, no need to get defensive! Although, you're still pretty stupid now, too."

"I'm not."

"Yeah, you are. You jumped out of a helicopter without a parashoot!" 

"Wha- wait, how did you even know about that?" 

"A little redhead told me."

"Nat did, didn't she?" 

"Well yeah, who else could have?"

Steve nodded. "Fair point." 

After a while, their dinner was done.

"Do you wanna go back to the others?" Steve asked.

Bucky shook his head. "Nah, I just want to enjoy being with you."

The blond grinned. "That can be arranged."

The two walked around hand in hand for a while, ending up sitting on the beach by the water.

The two of them watched the light waves clash together ahead of them, enjoying the calm and enjoying just being together, without really having to do a thing.

There would be sand in his shoes, possibly hair, and maybe even in the ring case, but Steve couldn't help it. 

It was the most perfect timing he could have possibly thought of.

So, heart pounding, he pulled out the ring and went down on one knee, barely hearing Bucky ask, "Wait, what-" 

The duo heard gasps around them and camera shutters, the people around them finally seeming to realize who the two men were.

"Bucky," Steve started. "I don't know where to even begin. You've been with me as far back as I can possibly remember. You were with me through thick and thin, no matter how sick I got or how many fights I found myself getting into. You were there with me. When- when we first got together so many years ago, no matter what people said or the law said, we knew what we have was special and right. I love you, and I want to continue to live my life with you, side by side."

Then he took a big, deep breath and prepared to finish.

"Will you marry me?" 

 


	16. Engaged.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bucky and Steve don't get the chance to tell their friends all about their engagement. Pictures were on the internet before they could.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bold is other characters, italics is Steve.

**Just wanted to let you know that there's pictures of you online on one knee. You gonna be at the tower tonight? -Sam.**

_In a few hours, maybe._

**So how are things going??**

_Good. The two of us found some dogs._

**That... Is not what I was asking. How did things go with you two?**

_Good!_

**You're seriously not gonna give me any details, are you?**

 

**Soooo, how are things? -Natasha.**

_Good._

**Are you engaged or what? Because I can see pictures right now of you kneeling with a ring in your hand.**

_Tell you later, Nat._

 

**Are you fuckers engaged or not? -Tony.**

_Wow. I'll tell you the same thing I told Natasha._

**Which is??**

_I'll tell you later. I'm not saying a thing until Bucky and I can tell everyone what's going on at the same time._

**So... You just don't wanna say anything without Bucky there, basically?**

_I'm full of regrets, but yes. Why?_

**Get to the group chat, we're all video chatting.**

_But there's so many of us._

**;-) And all at once.**

 

"Come on come onnn!" Tony groaned loudly as he waited for everyone to start connecting. He figured that Shuri and T'challa might not be online because of the time difference, but they were the first ones online.

"What's happening?" Shuri asked. 

"It's about Bucky and Steve."

"Fucking finally," mumbled T'challa.

"Are they finally engaged?" Wanda asked excitedly as she came into view.

"We don't know," Tony answered patiently. "They won't tell us anything until everyone gets online."

"I'm here, I'm gay, and I'm ready to play!" Peter yelled out as he got online.

"What are you playing?" 

"Nintendo!" he answered, holding up a blue Nintendo, then put it down again. "Is everyone here?" 

"Nearly," Sam said, who was watching his friends flicker onto the screen. "We're missing the potential bride and groom themselves."

"Who's the bride?" 

"Bucky," Wanda and Sam chorused, then grinned as Bucky came online.

"What's going on here?" 

"You idiots won't tell us anything!" Peter answered. Then, "Oh, sorry!" 

"What do you want to know so bad?" 

Steve sighed, appearing on Bucky's camera. "We might as well stop harassing them."

"I guess so."

"So? Soooo?" Natasha asked eagerly, leaning towards her own camera.

"We," Bucky said, grabbing Steve's hand- 

"Are definitely engaged."


	17. Shopping Day.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> True to his word, Bucky takes Emmy and some of her friends out shopping for her eighth birthday.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Should I tone it down with my Ocs, such as Emmy, Maria, and Angela? Or should I just keep them in the way they are?

"How does this look on me?" 

Emmy came out of a dressing room, wearing a long, blue gown that completely covered her. She was shuffling around, trying to show off the bit of fabric that didn't seem to swallow her whole.

"Well?" 

"No," Maria said, shaking her head. "Try something that's like, four sizes smaller."

"I say five," Cassie added.

"More like six," Angela disagreed. "At the very least."

"But this is my size, why can't I get it?" Emmy pouted slightly.

"Are you  _sure?_ "

"Positive!" 

"Kid," Bucky said casually, while trying not to laugh. "I think you found the wrong department." 

She stared up at him, head tilted to one side. "What makes you think so?" 

He pointed at the tag hanging off of the dress. "That's in women's."

"Yeah?" 

"Nothing in this store is going to fit you."

Angela nodded. "Em, you got the right size... technically, just, you are most definitely not in women's sizes yet."

"Why aren't I?" 

"You're too little. So are Maria and Cassie."

"Yeah," Cassie agreed. "I mean, you could try some of the shoes on here because it's fun, but it's not we can get them."

"Do they have high heels in our sizes?" 

"Can't speak for Mr. Lang, but I know for a fact that I'm not letting you buy high heels, Emmy." Angela rolled her eyes.

"But you aren't even in charge," Emmy said surely, as if this was an absolute fact. "Bucky is."

"Kiddo come on, you know how this works."

"How what works?" Scott asked.

"Our home situation. See, our-" 

She was quickly interrupted.

Maria tilted her head at two adults as they walked into the store. She gave them a long, hard look, before her eyes went over to Bucky, then back to the two adults who just walked in.

She made a quick move and searched for a quick exit before grabbing a large hat and scarf.

"Can I buy these, Bucky?"  

He looked over at her, then back at the items in her hands and raised an eyebrow, giving the child a vaguely confused look.

"You're aware that those are big enough to cover  _me,_ let alone you, right?" 

She nodded. "Please?" 

".. Okay."

Once she quickly payed for the scarf and hat, she quickly threw them over a now very confused Bucky.

"What-"

"I am  _begging_ you,  _please_ go along with this!"

"Okay?" 

Maria brightened up. "Now I just have to- oh no..."

She pointed over at Emmy and Angela.

Angela was glaring, full of suspicion and anger at the couple, quickly moving to guard Emmy's arm. 

Emmy was just standing there in shock.

"...Oh my gosh."


	18. This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emmy and Angela see their parents. There's a problem.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm planning on making a sequel when this is over. Thoughts?

Emmy was frozen in place.

"Emmy," the woman in front of her gasped. "Happy birthday!" 

"Emmy, it's been so long!" the man exclaimed happily.

"Oh, fuck off," the little eight year old mumbled. 

Angela smiled and high-fived her.

Bucky gave the girls a look. "Don't say that."

Emmy crossed her arms and glared at him. "In the United States of-" 

"Yes I know you have the freedom of speech, but why are you cursing at them?" 

Angela leaned closer to the two. "Where do you think she got that metal arm of hers?" 

There was a very long pause. 

"Way to go," Emmy hissed. "Now he's gonna beat them up!" 

"Don't act like you don't want him to!"

"Well, of course I do, but don't you think that two Hydra agents would maybe, possibly, oh I don't know, recognize Bucky?" 

"Shit," Angela mumbled. "How do we politely get away from them?" 

"Politely? No way. I have a specific method-" 

"Tone down the sass, child," Maria accidentally interrupting her friend.

"Child?" Emmy repeated. "You're only two years older than me!" 

"And don't you forget it."

"Is this really what you should be focused on?" Bucky asked, shaking his head. "We need to get out of here unnoticed, fast."

 Emmy looked about ready to say something, but before she could, she fell to the floor, clutching her arm tightly. 

The rest of the group turned around quickly to see the two adults holding a suspicious looking thing that seemed to be causing the pain.

Bucky looked over at the kid on the floor, surrounded by her best friends, and thought fast.

"Scott," he called out. "You got the suit?" 

"Thank goodness for Hope and making me bring it. But yes, I do. You got a plan?" 

He nodded. "Bring it out."

"You take Cassie, okay? Take her back to the tower with the other kids."

"I'm pretty sure Emmy and Angela are supposed to be living with their aunt, but forget that. They'll be spending the night."

Scott nodded. "Right. I'll go put on the suit, but seriously, what's the plan?" 

"You'll be fighting. I'll come back to help you, and I'll send Natasha too."

Bucky motioned for the three kids to follow him as he picked up Emmy.

"But for now, I'm getting my kids out of here." 


	19. A Discussion.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bucky Barnes is unofficially a father and just listens to his kids talk.

"So, anyone wanna explain what happened earlier?" 

Emmy, Angela, Maria, and Cassie sat there in silence as Bucky looked for answers.

"What the hell just happened?"

"I'll go first," Maria answered. "So, I saw the two come through the door and I didn't want them to recognize you, Angela, or Emmy. That's why I threw the scarf and hat over you." 

"Bit of warning would have been nice."

"I'll go next," said Emmy. "I'd like to state first off that this was the worst birthday I've really ever had and it's all because of those two stupid people that just happen to be related to me."

"Your parents."

She shook her head and glared at the wall. "No. They aren't my parents. That man isn't my dad and that woman isn't my mom." 

Angela reached over to give her little sister a hug. 

"And lastly off. Your parents are the ones that made Emmy have that arm?"

She nodded. "I'm just surprised you didn't start swinging."

"Oh, I will. I needed to get all of you out first. You're all gonna spend the night, okay? I can call your aunt if you have the number."

She nodded and handed it over.

"She isn't as bad, right?" Cassie quietly asked. "I won't be with her, but I want to make sure that you and Emmy will be okay."

Emmy nodded. "She's okay, we just don't really like living with her."

"Why, though?" 

"I mean, she's okay in the she's not Hydra thing. We don't trust her."

"I don't feel very safe with her and it's like we're walking on eggshells," Angela said. "I don't like knowing that she's still so close with my parents."

Cassie looked even more nervous. "You can just live with me then!" 

She shook her head. "It doesn't work like that, Cas." 

"...I know. But how does it work?"

"We're staying with our aunt until further notice, probably until we both reach eighteen."

The kid shook her head. "I don't think so. You can get adopted or something, can't you?" 

"I don't know. I don't know how all of that works. If we tried that, we'd probably end up not going anywhere because my parents are nutty and everyone knows it."

"That's not what I was asking."

"Yeah, I know. I don't know how the whole adoption thing works. My parents are still around, technically."

"More than technically!" Cassie frowned. "We just ran into them. My dad's currently beating them up!" 

Even as she said that, Bucky, who was looking down at his phone for updates from Scott, frowned and tilted his head, confused.

All the text message from Scott said was: 

__**It's bad. Turn on the news.**

* * *

 

 


	20. Dead.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emmy and Angela get news.

"Hello?"

Emmy held the cell phone up to her ear, trying to comprehend what her aunt, who knew she was with Bucky and the Avengers, was saying. 

"Auntie- A- I can't understand you, you need to slow down!" 

Angela looked concerned. "Bucky, what's going on? You have to know, right?" 

He shook his head. "No. All Scott told me was to turn on the news."

"Is he okay?" Cassie asked quietly.

"Of course he's okay. He wouldn't be texting me if he wasn't okay."

She looked a bit skeptical, but didn't try to argue, either. Instead, she reached over to turn on the TV, and immiediately gasped at what she saw.

Then she whipped around and crushed a shocked Angela in a hug. 

Maria stared at the screen, then back at Emmy, then back at the screen again. 

"What's going on?" Emmy asked, putting the phone down as she hung up. "What's happening?" 

The volume on the TV was down, and everyone was talking, but she couldn't really read the closed captioning very well. 

"Read- read the words at the very top," Angela told her, voice shaking slightly.

She shrugged, then scooted a bit closer to the TV. "Two known Hydra agents, Sonya and Michael Milwood were found de-"

She looked really confused for a few seconds, before what she was reading hit her.

"...Were found dead at the Hillview mall earlier today." 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, sorry for the short chapter! I'm writing this on the way to school and don't really have time to go any further.


	21. She Really Doesn't Care.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Angela and Emmy talk some things out.

"Scott killed them?!"

"No!" Bucky ran over and hugged the little girl. "No no no, Emmy! There was an accident and well.. you know what happened."

"That's a really vague answer," Angela pointed out accusingly. The near fourteen year old was just simply not having it.

"Well, they're dead, and Scott sent us away with you so we wouldn't see what he was doing."

"He sent you away because he wanted to keep you safe. You really think he was the only one fighting out there? No, police were called, Shield agents were probably called, heck, I'm pretty sure Steve went out to fight too."

"So I might not ever know who actually killed my parents."

"Yikes," Maria said with a frown. "Isn't there a better way to put that?"

"I really, really don't care right now. Like, I don't even have a negative number for how little I care."

"Negative number?"

"You must know what those are. You're in what, fourth grade?"

"I know what negative numbers are, I just don't know how to use them very well."

"Is math really the most important topic right now?" Emmy asked, frowning. "I really don't think it is!"

"It's not," Angela agreed. "But now we have to tell Aunt Majorie that her sister, her Hydra agent sister, got killed by a bunch of superheroes. Bet that'll go well."

"I told you, they got involved and nobody intentionally did anything from what I've heard-' Bucky began. He was interrupted by a bitter sounding Emmy.

"Well actually Angela, we won't have to tell Aunt Majorie anything. It's all over the news, remember?"

"Fuck. You're right. What do we do now? She won't know what to do with us now that our parents are gone."

"I mean, they were gone for years before that. They were never around us much and legally weren't allowed to be. So I mean, what would the difference be at home?"

"The difference," Angela began with a sigh, "Is that there are no other family members for us to go with, and our aunt has literally zero idea how to take care of us."

Emmy crossed her arms. "She's done it for years!"

"No, she hasn't! She knows how to take care of babies. A lot of her friends have babies."

"Can't we stay with some of them for a while?"

"No," the older girl groaned. "None of those people know how to take care of us!"

"Then where do we go? Won't the law be checking up on us and our aunt who's going to be too upset to do much of anything?"

"Honestly if she's going to be hysterically upset over two Hydra agents who are the reason you have a metal arm, that's her own fault," she muttered, maybe a bit insensitivity. She didn't really care.

By the shrug her little sister gave, neither did she.

"You didn't answer my question. Won't we still have the government or whatever checking up on us?"

"Don't worry," Angela said with a slightly proud look on her face.

"I have a plan."


	22. Good Night.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Emmy has a nightmare and Bucky accidentally distracts her from it.

(later that night)

"...Bucky?"

Bucky looked up to see Emmy standing in the doorway, clutching a blanket and frowning. Her eyes were watering, even as she rapidly tried blinking tears away.

"Yeah, kiddo?"

She looked down at the floor for a few seconds before looking back up at him.

"Can I spend the night?"

"You already are- Oh! You mean in here, right?"

"Can I? Steve won't mind, right?"

Bucky nodded. "Of course you can, and he won't even be here tonight."

"Why? Aren't you guys together?"

"Well, yes. We're engaged now. Did anybody tell you that?"

Emmy shook her head. "Nope. But where is he?"

"He's on a mission."

"Why aren't you, too? I mean, I'm really glad you're here and all but I'm just a bit confused."

Bucky hesitated before answering. "That's a story that you don't need to know about yet."

"When?"

"Maybe when you're older."

Or maybe never.

She groaned. "Why does everyone tell me that?"

"Because there are things that you're too young to know and won't know how to handle."

"I'm eight years old! That's only two years away from being ten, and only five years away from being thirteen! That's only-"

"Okay, okay, I get it. You're big and you're old now."

"Exactly," she said, smiling. Any remains of tears were quickly fading away. Then she smiled a bit wider, faced the bed a bit more, kicked off her slippers, and ran on over.


	23. The Late Christmas Chapter.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I have zero motivation and I think it's obvious by now, but here's a late Christmas chapter.

"HO HO HOLIDAYS!" 

Angela burst into the room, wearing a red shirt, green pants, and a Santa hat on her head.

She searched the room real quick, then rushed over to Bucky.

"Bucky, I got you something!" 

"So did I!" exclaimed Emmy as she ran into the room holding a bag, wrapping paper overflowing. "Merry Christmas!" 

"It's been days since Christmas," he reminded the girls, yet accepted the presents and handed them each something in return.

"Here ya go, kids."

They both grinned as they ripped the wrapping paper up, causing a mess on the floor which they ignored.

They held up the presents to show the Avengers, who likely already knew what they were, especially Steve.

Emmy seemed to love what she was holding, judging by the way she hugged it close, then put it down and hugged Bucky just as tight.

Then, without stopping to think about what she was about to say, exclaimed: 

"Thanks, Dad!" 


	24. Dad.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bucky is very much not over being called Dad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have somewhat of a plan for this fic, but it's going to be cut way shorter. Is everyone okay with that? If I cut it shorter then there's a chance that I'll just make a sequel.

"SHE CALLED ME DAD."

Steve looked confused. Eventually he set down his coffee and turned around in chair to face Bucky better.

"What? Who did?" 

"Emmy! Just last night! I don't know if she meant to or not but she did it!" 

The confusion quickly faded away. 

"That's great! Is she coming back over today?"

"She spent the night actually. She might be still asleep."

"Do you see her as your daughter?" 

Neither of them seemed to hear the footsteps from behind them.

"Of course I do. Her and Angela both."

"And Maria?"

"To be announced."

Steve nodded. "Gotcha."

"I'd love to have Angela and Emmy over even more than they already are, but they live with their aunt and they need to spend time with her too, I can't just steal the girls from her like that."

"Actually," Emmy called out suddenly, surprising the two and making them jump slightly.

"We just snuck up on a couple of Avengers," Angela realized with a smirk. "Awesome."

"Where did you two even  _come_ from?"

Her smirk increased. "Well you see, when a mommy and a daddy love each other very much-" 

"I already know that, thanks! But seriously. I thought you two were asleep?" 

"Nope," they chorused.

Then Emmy cheerfully went, "Why don't you just adopt us already?" 

"It's a... Bit more complicated than that."

"Besides, we're Avengers, we wouldn't be able to keep this calm and quiet. You guys would have cameras in your faces all the time and I don't think you'd want to," Steve chimed in.

"My YouTube channel can finally skyrocket," Angela replied happily. 

"We're losing this argument so hard," Bucky whispered to himself. "You two already live with your aunt," he pointed out a bit louder.

"Yeah," Emmy agreed. "But she's pretty darn incapable of taking care of us and eventually the people who take care of this stuff will notice. So adopt us!" 

"It wouldn't be the worst idea in the world but it seriously doesn't work like that."

When the two girls looked at each other and one pulled out a phone, Bucky got the impression that they still didn't quite believe him.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That one where Bucky yelled "Where did you two come from?!" Was originally going to go like this: 
> 
> "Heaven!" Emmy said brightly, grinning in innocent little smile.
> 
> "Hell," Angela responded calmly.


	25. Adoption? Really?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Natasha is skeptical.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remember that one arc I had where Bucky couldn't get along with Wanda bc she was with Hydra? Yeah there's a bit of that so... Enjoy? And please suggest things for the sequel!

"This is the third time. This is THE THIRD TIME I had to find something important with you two over text."

"I'm with Sam here," Tony said. "Shouldn't you two not know how to work technology? You're dinosaurs."

"I wouldn't say dinosaurs," Natasha began to protest, then stopped and nodded. "Actually, dinosaurs sounds pretty accurate."

"Yeah, I'm with these three," Clint agreed, grabbing at a piece of pizza. "And I really don't understand how you two can text so well. Who taught you? I know who probably taught Cap, but what about Bucky?"

"Peter and Nat did," the couple chorused, then turned to look at each other in surprise.

"They did?" They asked each other.

"Okay so this is all very cute and all," began Wanda, who had just entered the room, "But I hear we have something to discuss?"

Bucky immediately stopped talking, eyed her, then grabbed a piece of pizza and left the room, Natasha on his heels.

"I understand you don't like her, but you need to make more of an effort to get along."

"I tried, remember? It didn't exactly work out the way I was intending. So, I'm oh so sorry."

"No you aren't. And really? Adoption? You think that's a good idea? You're really going for this?"

"They don't have parents anymore. And their aunt doesn't know what to do or cares much about the girls. But Steve and I do. I know how to take care of Emmy, and let's be real here: Not many people will know how to take care of a energetic and bubbly little girl that happens to also have a semi high maintenance metal arm. And not many people are gonna know how to take care of a near silent teenager who only seems to talk when she thinks it's important. So, Steve and I are adopting."

Natasha seemed to pause for a second. She got up and headed toward the door, but stopped half way through it and threw her head back.

"That's a better answer than I was expecting. Keep that mentality about it." 


	26. Chapter 26

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group gets ready for a press conference.

"Yesterday you were talking about adopting those girls, and now they're nowhere to be found."

Bucky looked up a bit, then rolled his eyes at Sam and went back to what he was doing.

"One is on a field trip, the other is upstairs with Maria."

"You sure you're not adopting that one too?"

He shook his head. "Definitely not. Though I do see your point, she's definitely around a lot."

"Not as much as she used to be. What's up with that? You scared her off?"

"Nah, I think it's your shining personality that did that one. But no, both girls are fine, they're upstairs playing."

"They won't be for long," Tony called out as he walked in, suit on.

"What's with the suit? I'm guessing you have a meeting?"

"We need someone to watch those four."

"Four? It's only Maria and Emmy. That's two."

"Four," Clint corrected. "Laura doesn't have a babysitter for Nathaniel."

"Yet she has one for the other kids?"

"No, not exactly. She can just bring them with her."

"Can't you do the same?" Bucky asked, noticing that even Clint was dressed nice. "What's happening?"

Scott also walked in. "Press conference. I have Cassie here and Laura is bringing Nathaniel, but none of us can actually watch them."

"I got that. But how bad is the press conference gonna be if all of you are going?"

Tony sighed heavily.

"The public knows about your kids."


	27. Press

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The girls are found out.

"Look this way!"

"Honey, look at the camera!"

"Can we get your name?"

"Who's this?"

"Are these your kids?"

"There's so many of them!"

"You didn't find anyone to watch the kids, did you?" Bucky asked Clint. Clint shook his head and sighed. He turned to glare at the camera that was focused on him before shifting more toward Bucky, where Nathaniel would be hidden better.

"I couldn't find anyone to watch them. What are the odds all the people will think he's yours?"

"Pretty damn high. But he's not mine."

"Yeah, I know that, thanks. But I don't want to say anything about Nathaniel."

Bucky paused for a second. "Hand him off to Natasha."

"...Natasha."

"You called?"

Natasha, who was in a tight red dress and heels, was definitely not in the clothes to be babysitting.

"What's going on- damn it Clint, you brought the baby?"

"I had to! Laura couldn't exactly take him and I couldn't find a babysitter."

"Hand him over. I'll keep him away from the press."

"He's already on camera."

"It's gonna look suspicious," Tony agreed as he walked over to the trio.

"Fuck being suspicious," Clint replied. "Rumors will fly no matter what happens."

"We are literally here to confront rumors."

"Yes but I'm not doing that. And thank you, Nat."

She nodded, took Nathaniel, and walked off toward Pepper.

"This is a weird party," Cassie said, appearing behind them, wobbling.

By the looks of it, Maria and Emmy, who were beside her, were too.

Bucky looked like he was trying to cover a laugh. Clint wisely just walked off in the direction Natasha did.

"Who thought it would be a smart idea to put you three in heels?"

"Hope," Cassie, the oldest of the girl trio, replied. "She thought I was old enough to try them, especially since we have to look good at this weird adult party. I don't think she expected me to actually wear them to this thing, though."

"...Right. What about Emmy and Maria? Because I know I didn't help them in those shoes."

"Pepper did," Maria answered. "And my mom did too. These aren't heels, though."

"They're wedges!" Emmy exclaimed excitedly. She was still wobbling, though.

"...Maybe we should take these off?"

"No, we look great," Cassie protested. Her wobbling increased.

"You three are also eight, ten, and eleven. Maybe you guys can just wait with the shoes. You're gonna fall over."

"No I wo-"

They were interrupted. Not by Emmy falling; they were interrupted by a bright camera flash in their faces.

"You could have just asked us for a picture, you know," she grumbled. Her friends nodded.

Another reporter, much more polite than the last, walked over, notebook in hand.

She named who she was with business wise, then asked the group for an interview.

"Are you three Bucky's- Do I call you that?"

He nodded, so she continued.

"Are you three Bucky's kids?"

There was one yes and two no's, which seemed to confuse the lady when they didn't elaborate any further than that.

"Uh. Which one said yes?"

"Me," Emmy answered, raising a hand. "Hi. I'm Emmy. What's your name?"

"Michelle. How old are you?"

"I'm eight. How old are you?"

"That's not really important." She then mumbled under her breath, "This is not how interviews are supposed to go."

"How many kids are there?" She said, louder.

"Two of us. My older sister isn't here today, though."

"Right. Who are these two here?"

The little girl pulled them closer. "My best friends."

Again, no further elaboration.

"Alright. Can I get a picture of all of you together?"

"At least this lady asked," Cassie whispered.

"I don't think most others will," Maria agreed.

Emmy, on the other hand, lifted her head up and turned toward Bucky.

"We won't even have to tell Angela everything, even though I probably will anyway. We're gonna be trending!"

"...I don't doubt that for a second."


	28. Calm Before The Storm.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things are nice and sweet.... At the moment.

Avengers attract a crowd.

That's practically a known fact.

Avengers that were trending? Good luck even getting to your car.

"Where- where is that damned child at?"

"She's gonna be hard to find in the crowd," Steve said, as if that wasn't already painfully obvious. "Do you see her?"

"It would be much more helpful if she didn't wear black all the time. Her clothes are too normal. She fits in too well."

"Buck. You're wearing black right now."

"Yeah, but we aren't trying to find me!"

A very confused looking Angela waved before running over to them. "Hi?"

"Hey kiddo. How was your trip?"

"It was good. Why are you here?"

"Wow, you're just getting straight to it."

She simply stared at him until he answered.

Bucky rolled his eyes. "Fine, fine. Well for one, I'm picking you up. I say that I'm the one doing it because Steve can't drive for shit."

"Hey!"

"Don't "hey" me, it's true and you know it. You drove straight into a pole before."

He slung his arm around his fiance's shoulder. "Honey, nothing about me is straight."

Bucky just blinked at him for a second before all three of them started laughing.

"That was the perfect timing for that joke," Angela said, smiling. "But seriously. Tony usually picks me up and takes me back to you two. What's up?"

"Well-"

"Does it have anything to do with why you're trending?"

The two adults looked at each other.

"Let's talk about this in the car."

*******

"I'M ENGAGED, MOTHERFUCKERS!"

"I would expect that from Clint-"

"I have a wife, excuse you-"

"But you, Tony? You're engaged?"

Tony nodded. "I could hardly wait for you three to get home so I could tell everybody. Unlike you and Barnes over there, I tell people important things in person."

"That was one time-"

"One time, Steve? Really?"

"Yeah. When Bucky and I were dating and some of you-"

"All of us."

"-All of you found out over the internet."

"And your engagement!" Sam called out.

"And when you tried talking to everyone about adopting Emmy and Angela!" Clint chimed in.

"Okay," Steve admitted. "Three times. At least it's not four?"

"I will actually throw you out a window if you withhold important information from us again," Natasha said seriously.

Peter, who was standing beside Angela, was not quite as serious.

"She's gonna yeet Captain America out a window," he whispered.

"I believe it. How much money do you bet that she'll actually try to go through with it, keeping Sam on standby so Steve doesn't fucking die?"

"20 dollars says that she won't do it."

"Even if Steve and Bucky hide things from her again?"

"20 dollars says that she won't do it," he repeated.

"20 dollars says she does and Sam catches him."

"I would admittedly pay to see that."

"PSA things he does got on your nerves?"

"Yes and no." He lowered his voice then. "If we can go and get out of here, I'll show you. But you can't tell anyone. Oh, and don't shoot the messenger."

"...What do you know?"

"I said and I repeat, don't shoot the messenger. Okay?"

"Okay."

"Do you swear?"

Angela groaned. "Fuck this, yeah I swear, okay?"

"Good. Now let's go."


	29. And The Secrets Are All Out.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Angela finds out that Bucky killed Tony's parents.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is set a week after the last one. Also, the Accords were handled much differently than they were in Civil War. Not much in this went down the same as it did in the movie.

"Happy birthday to youu. Happy birthday to youu. Happy birthday dear Angela, happy birthday to youu!"

It was Angela's 14th birthday, but she wasn't really into it. She didn't feel like celebrating, for more reasons than one.

First reason: She wasn't all outgoing like her little sister. She didn't want a party, but it wasn't like she was going to tell her dads that because of reason two.

Second reason: She was hardly talking to them. And they were starting to notice.

And most importantly, reason three.

Reason three: She had just recently discovered that Bucky, Steve, and Tony got into a huge fight after the Accords thing was resolved.

And that Bucky was the reason that Tony's parents are dead.

Snapping back to the present, Angela saw Peter shoot her a concerned look before glancing over at Bucky, then back to her.

"What I showed you?" he asked in a quiet tone. She simply nodded.

"How did you even find that?"

"You might not believe me, but I wasn't actually trying to. But once I actually found it, Karen pulled it up for me. I don't know if she knew what it was either. Maybe she just assumed I needed to know what happened. Kinda like you did, huh?"

She crossed her arms and glared down. "I'm not sure now if I ever needed to see that. How do they even get along with each other? How can they even stand each other?"

"Well," he began. "From what I've been told, as soon as the Avengers started finding out, they pretty much made them. I don't know about now. I can't imagine they actually like each other, though."

Angela went back to glaring.

"Hey, what did that poor piece of cake do to you?"

Both her and Peter quickly dropped their forks as their heads jerked up to see who it was that had startled them.

"What?" Angela managed to get out.

"I said," Bucky started, "What did that poor piece of cake do to you? You're glaring at it."

The two teens looked at each other, over to Tony, then back to Bucky.

"What do I have to do with this?" Tony mumbled to himself, confused. Then he mouthed, "Peter, what did you do?"

The boy winced and mouthed back, "She needed to know."

The confused look didn't go away at first. Not until Angela looked over to him, Steve's empty seat, (he was on a mission with Natasha and Clint,) then back to Bucky again. Then she calmly went back to eating her birthday cake.

You would have to be dumb or incredibly oblivious to not notice the tension between Angela and Bucky before that, but as soon as recognition dawned on Tony's face, everyone knew for an absolute fact:

Something was about to go down, and it wasn't going to be good.

"Peter," Tony began. "What the fuck. What the ACTUAL fuck. How the hell did you know?"

Peter froze. "I... Didn't tell you that I knew?"

"No! How did you figure it out?"

"I... Karen told me."

"How the fuck did Karen find out? Wait- Friday!"

"Yes?" Questioned Friday, her voice coming out of... Wherever her voice comes out of.

"Did you tell Karen?"

"What did I tell Karen?"

"Agh, you're not helping. Peter! Did you say anything to anybody?"

"No."

"What's even happening anymore?" Emmy asked, looking up to the ceiling as if that could possibly help her. "What's going on here?"

"Peter," Tony said firmly, ignoring the kid.

"Can someone PLEASE let me know what's going on here?" the little girl persisted.

"I'll tell you later," Angela whispered.

"No you won't!" Tony snapped. "Now, Peter, who did you tell?"

"...Angela."

"Mother of fuck," Bucky whispered to himself. Poor Emmy looked very lost.

"I'm... Just gonna go... Call Steve. Maybe he can decipher this."

"No! He's on a mission. He said that he'll call us all tonight-"

His cell phone ringing interrupted him.

"That's probably him now."

So he picked up the phone, but immediately froze.

"What? Wait no, I didn't hear you? Everyone around me, shut the fuck up!"

Everyone kept glancing around the room at each other, but listened and stopped talking.

"I hear you. Thanks, we'll be on our way."

He hung up the phone and went dead silent for a few seconds.

"Dad?" Emmy asked cautiously. "Was that Steve?"

"We're... We're gonna have to deal with this current situation later," Bucky managed to say.

"Steve's in the hospital."

 

 


	30. The Epilogue Chapter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> On Bucky and Steve's wedding day, Angela and Emmy look through a box their aunt gave them years back, and they find something completely unexpected.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm doing a sequel! Keep an eye out for The Public Knows Steve Isn't Straight, coming out soon! Suggestions for it are always open, and if you wanna give them to me privately, find my Instagram: @thebeth02
> 
> Or my Snapchat: thebeth20

_Three years later._

Steve was still not fully recovered.

He got hit pretty hard, and his legs were still hurt enough to the point where he pretty much had to step down from his position with the Avengers.

He was recovering. He would be able to rejoin missions someday, but it was just not happening for quite a while.

Missions weren't exactly on his train of thought the day of his and Bucky's wedding day, though.

"Do we have the food? Do we have the cake? Do we have the kids? DAMN IT WE FORGOT THE KIDS!"

"We're right behind you, Dad," Emmy said, smiling. The smile quickly turned to a frown as she tried to yank her dress down more.

"I could have sworn we just got you fitted for that," Bucky said.

"That's because we did," she answered. "I keep growing and I hate it. Nothing fits me."

"Well, the world doesn't want you to stay a tiny little bug all your life. You should probably get used to it," Angela said.

"I'm not a bug!"

"Not for long. I'm bored, I'm gonna go run around or something. How long until we need to be back here?"

"A couple hours. Go have fun, I think I saw some of your friends here already. Can you take Emmy with you so I feel fairly confident that she's not getting in trouble?"

"I don't get into trouble without Angela!" the eleven year old denyed.

"Well, you sure don't get in very much trouble with me around, so we're gonna go with that. What is it that you wanted to do without me, anyway?" She put her hand on the younger girls' shoulder and led them away from the crowd.

"It's not that I wanted to ditch you, it's just..."

"Yes?"

"You know that box our aunt left us a few years back?"

"You want to go look through that again?"

"I never looked through it in the first place."

"Wha- Emmy, we got that three years ago."

"Yes we did. I just didn't care until last week."

"What changed your mind?" Angela asked.

"The fact that our dads are getting married today. It makes the fact that we're all a family now officially official."

"Em, we've been officially a family for two years now."

"No, you know what I mean. The dad, the.. other dad, and the two girls. Totally normal family."

"The American dream," came the dry, sarcastic response from the older girl. "But yeah, I get what you mean."

"Except our oh so normal family is full of Avengers that everyone either loves or hates with all their hearts. And new members just keep coming in. I'm in sixth grade and I'm completely out of elementary school now. You'll be going to college soon... Things are changing."

"Ugh, I know. And we can't stop that, but that doesn't mean it can't be a good thing."

"It's kinda hard to get pumped about all of it. So, yeah. The box. I know one of us could probably keep it, right?"

"Right," Angela nodded. "But... I'm guessing you don't want to."

Emmy took a deep breath and stood up. "No. But I need to see what's in there. Even though we got adopted and separated from our aunt years ago, opening the box right before things change again is kind of like my own personal goodbye to her, I guess. Because let's face it. Things aren't gonna stay the same after this, I can practically feel it."

She nodded. "I feel it too. I wouldn't be surprised if anyone else picked up on it. Do you want me to come with you and get the box?"

"Well... I guess so. Let's go."

*******

"Angela?"

The two were sprawled out on the couch, box in between the two as they grabbed things out of it.

"Angela?" Emmy repeated, tugging on her hand that time.

She looked up. "What? What's up?"

She leaned closer and held out a photo toward the older girl.

"Who's that?"

The photo showed a baby Emmy, six year old Angela, and a third girl who looked somewhere in between the two ages.

"Maybe a friend of mine?"

"I feel like you'd probably remember her if that was the case."

"I don't know, I was pretty little."

"Yeah, and I was a baby, so you kinda have to be the one doing the remembering, A."

"Maybe she was a babysitter?"

Emmy scoffed and shook her head. "Doubt it. She looks younger than you do."

For a minute or so there was silence as the two girls continued to look through old pictures.

"Hey, here's that girl again! She's with you again. I'm not there, though. Maybe I wasn't born?"

In the photo, Angela and the mystery girl looked even younger. So, Emmy not being born at that point was probably very likely.

Then the more time the duo spent looking at old photos, the more confused they got.

"I. Don't. Get. This."

"Who the heck is she? I don't under-" she paused as she flipped the picture in her hand around.

"Little Lana, Emmy, and Ang," she read out loud. "Hey, we have a clue in this one! This one has our nicknames and I was, you know, a baby, but we have a clue. Lana. What could that stand for?"

"Alanna? Or maybe her name really is just Lana," Angela suggested. "I mean, could be, right? But good find. Let's flip all of these around and see what writing is on the back. Is there any more writing on the one you're holding with all three of us?"

"Yeah. It says December 2008."

"That's it?"

Emmy nodded. "That's it. Anything over there?"

"The name Alana, I think. That's nothing different than what we literally just- oh hey, there's a video on this camera. There's a note, too. All it says is the year. Before 2008 this time." 

She face palmed. "If there's a video, then how about we play it?"

"Bossy, bossy. I'm doing it."

_"This way! Come on, you can do it!"_

"Looks like this is before our parents became Hydra maniacs."

"Shhh, Emmy, we gotta watch this! This looks like the Alana person, only super little. And I think that's me in the background!"

" _I did it! I ran all the way! I won!"_

_The man on screen chuckled and high fived Alana, who at the time couldn't have been more than two. Angela, who was in the background, couldn't have been any more than four, simply watched and smiled._

_"Good job to me! I won da race!" Alana yelled, then turned back to the man. "Dad! I won the race! I beat you!"_

Angela slammed her finger down on the pause button. "I'm fucking sorry, but did that girl just call our dad, "Dad?" 

Before she could get a reply, she pressed play again, and on and on it went.

For half an hour at the very least, the two sisters stared in shock at the camera screen, words completely failing both of them until Angela paused it again.

She looked back at Emmy, who was no longer sprawled out and comfortable, but was instead staring off into space. 

"We... We have a sister." 


	31. A Sequel!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A new sequel has been written!

Hi everybody! 

If anyone sees me update this and wonders "But isn't this book finished?"

Yes it is! 

But I have a sequel to it now up, even if it's admittedly over a month late. I meant to write and publish the first two chapters the same day this fanfic ended, but that just didn't happen. 

So the sequel is called The Public Knows Steve Isn't Straight! I hope you'll all go and check it out.


	32. Update

I will be taking down The Public Knows Steve Isn't Straight. I have no motivation for it or any ideas so I'm taking it down.


End file.
